It's not like there isn't anything to write about - I'm itching to vent over the latest idiocies such as a governor suggesting we "suspend democracy for two years", the NY State Legislature suggestion we have a "more sophisticated first amendment", a Democratic Senator recommending "retroactive recusal" of a Supreme Court justice because she doesn't like his position on "Obamacare" and so much more. But, truth be told, I've been working on my first novel and am almost ready to list it on Amazon (probably about another six or seven weeks, possibly sooner). It's consumed a lot of what little free time I have of late.
I should be sending it off for editing in another week or so and will try to catch up then. I have complete faith in the morons running this country into the ground that I'll have even more material by then....
- Keith
Monday, October 10, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The SKS: A pleasant surprise
I have tried to not be unnecessarily snobbish about firearms (except for the Chautchat but that is, at least in part, because it's fun to pick on the French) but I admit I had suffered somewhat from "cheap Commie crap syndrome". For those of you who do not interact much with shooters and their communities, CCCS is a mild-to-serious disdain for anything designed or manufactured in any former Communist-bloc country or satellite. In fairness, gulag labor, a philosophy of quantity above quality and occasional winging it through reverse-engineered plans did a good deal to earn that reputation but, nonetheless, it is foolish to cling blindly to assumptions. And so, when a student of mine was looking for a general purpose rifle on a severely-restricted budget, I recommended an SKS. Feel free to Google "SKS" "SKS-45" or "simonov" if you'd like great technical details. My personal Clif Notes version is this: It is a short, squattish, semi-automatic carbine firing the same intermediate round - the 7.62x39mm, very similar in ballistics as the American classic, the .30-30 - as the AK47 and relying on an internal, ten-round magazine.
I found one for him with an asking price of $300. While this is absurd by 1990s standards when you could buy one for $100, it's pretty fair by current market standards and actually pretty good given the fact that it was Russian-made (1950s vintage), barely fired from the looks of it and in overall near-pristine condition. In addition to finding one for him, I also took it upon myself to evaluate the accuracy, safety and function prior to plunking down any cash.
This is where the snobbery came in. I was expecting fit and finish to be rough, reliability to be excellent and accuracy to be perhaps slightly better than a pistol - and hopefully not flat-out abysmal.
Cue Gomer Pyle - "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"
Finish was a little rough but very acceptable given that it was over half a century old and metal-to-metal fit was excellent. The balance of the design was exceptional - it was heavy enough to feel solid, light enough to shoulder quickly and the sights lined up as naturally as the cheek weld. It went "bang" when the trigger was pulled - neither "click" nor "bang-bang-bang", as I feared. (Quick tip on evaluating semi-automatic firearms: Don't load more than three rounds until you verify the mechanical integrity. One of the definitions of "suck" is "having a gun go unexpectedly full-auto on you and needing to hold on for dear life until the magazine empties itself".)
Anyway, the gun fired in semi-auto mode and the safety prevented firing when engaged. But what really raised my eyebrows was the fact that it was as accurate as, well, a short-barreled rifle. I'd make it about a 4MOA gun (Minute Of Angle basically means one inch groups for every hundred yards - 1" at 100, 1/2" at 50, 2" at 200, et cetera). Not a competition-winner by any stretch but adequate for game-getting and self-defense within reasonable distances. I actually toyed with the idea of keeping the gun for myself and telling my student that I nixed the deal but, sadly, I've got this weird "ethics" thing that keeps cropping up, especially when someone is relying on my assistance and knowledge.
I decided at that moment that perhaps "Commie crap" wasn't quite so crappy after all or, at the very least, there were sufficient non-crappy specimens to warrant investigation. I vowed that I would get one of those little carbines for myself if I could find one under $300 and in serviceable condition.
Well.
My club's newsletter came out not long after and what should I find but a Chinese-made, 1990s vintage SKS... for $290. I bought it. I tried it. I am pleased.
Quite attractive blonde, laminated wood. Barely any score marks on the moving metal parts. Clean bore and sharp rifling down the barrel. From my limited testing, it seems to not be very fond of American-made ammo (understandable - we disagree with the Eastern Bloc on what "7.62mm" means and make our projectiles .308" in diameter instead of .311") but it gobbles up "cheap Russki" Wolf ammo with aplomb and also holds about 4-5MOA. Not too shabby, given my limited rifle experience and fuzzy view of the target.
So far, I've noted that the front post is pegged as far as it will go for windage yet the gun still holds left a little. An easy fix, there - I just hug the right ear of the rear sight and drop rounds where I want them. The rubber buttstock that came with it was nice and all but I've since replaced it with an original steel one. I like the traditionalism (which is why I've never bothered with the absurd "duckbill" extended magazines that came with the gun) and the reduced length-of-pull seems to suit the balance well. And, while the bayonet is pretty fun, removing it also improved balance and shouldering so it'll probably live in the safe with the rest of the spare parts. The weirdest thing I've encountered so far isn't with the gun but, of all things, faulty stripper clips. I mean, they're mostly flat strips of steel! What could go wrong with that? And yet, all but one will bind on loading even though they all appear identical to my naked eye.
I dig this carbine. I have an AR15 that will shoot circles around it. I have several .30-06 bolt guns and a Garand that will outdistance its range threefold. But for a neat, handy little carbine that was designed to take the kind of abuse that ignorant peasant conscripts can dole out, I think I've found a winner. I intend to spend a bit more time - and ammunition - getting to know this gun and hopefully tuning it down to 2-3MOA performance.
Okay, maybe 3-4MOA. It is just a hunk of Commie junk, after all....
:)
I found one for him with an asking price of $300. While this is absurd by 1990s standards when you could buy one for $100, it's pretty fair by current market standards and actually pretty good given the fact that it was Russian-made (1950s vintage), barely fired from the looks of it and in overall near-pristine condition. In addition to finding one for him, I also took it upon myself to evaluate the accuracy, safety and function prior to plunking down any cash.
This is where the snobbery came in. I was expecting fit and finish to be rough, reliability to be excellent and accuracy to be perhaps slightly better than a pistol - and hopefully not flat-out abysmal.
Cue Gomer Pyle - "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"
Finish was a little rough but very acceptable given that it was over half a century old and metal-to-metal fit was excellent. The balance of the design was exceptional - it was heavy enough to feel solid, light enough to shoulder quickly and the sights lined up as naturally as the cheek weld. It went "bang" when the trigger was pulled - neither "click" nor "bang-bang-bang", as I feared. (Quick tip on evaluating semi-automatic firearms: Don't load more than three rounds until you verify the mechanical integrity. One of the definitions of "suck" is "having a gun go unexpectedly full-auto on you and needing to hold on for dear life until the magazine empties itself".)
Anyway, the gun fired in semi-auto mode and the safety prevented firing when engaged. But what really raised my eyebrows was the fact that it was as accurate as, well, a short-barreled rifle. I'd make it about a 4MOA gun (Minute Of Angle basically means one inch groups for every hundred yards - 1" at 100, 1/2" at 50, 2" at 200, et cetera). Not a competition-winner by any stretch but adequate for game-getting and self-defense within reasonable distances. I actually toyed with the idea of keeping the gun for myself and telling my student that I nixed the deal but, sadly, I've got this weird "ethics" thing that keeps cropping up, especially when someone is relying on my assistance and knowledge.
I decided at that moment that perhaps "Commie crap" wasn't quite so crappy after all or, at the very least, there were sufficient non-crappy specimens to warrant investigation. I vowed that I would get one of those little carbines for myself if I could find one under $300 and in serviceable condition.
Well.
My club's newsletter came out not long after and what should I find but a Chinese-made, 1990s vintage SKS... for $290. I bought it. I tried it. I am pleased.
Quite attractive blonde, laminated wood. Barely any score marks on the moving metal parts. Clean bore and sharp rifling down the barrel. From my limited testing, it seems to not be very fond of American-made ammo (understandable - we disagree with the Eastern Bloc on what "7.62mm" means and make our projectiles .308" in diameter instead of .311") but it gobbles up "cheap Russki" Wolf ammo with aplomb and also holds about 4-5MOA. Not too shabby, given my limited rifle experience and fuzzy view of the target.So far, I've noted that the front post is pegged as far as it will go for windage yet the gun still holds left a little. An easy fix, there - I just hug the right ear of the rear sight and drop rounds where I want them. The rubber buttstock that came with it was nice and all but I've since replaced it with an original steel one. I like the traditionalism (which is why I've never bothered with the absurd "duckbill" extended magazines that came with the gun) and the reduced length-of-pull seems to suit the balance well. And, while the bayonet is pretty fun, removing it also improved balance and shouldering so it'll probably live in the safe with the rest of the spare parts. The weirdest thing I've encountered so far isn't with the gun but, of all things, faulty stripper clips. I mean, they're mostly flat strips of steel! What could go wrong with that? And yet, all but one will bind on loading even though they all appear identical to my naked eye.
I dig this carbine. I have an AR15 that will shoot circles around it. I have several .30-06 bolt guns and a Garand that will outdistance its range threefold. But for a neat, handy little carbine that was designed to take the kind of abuse that ignorant peasant conscripts can dole out, I think I've found a winner. I intend to spend a bit more time - and ammunition - getting to know this gun and hopefully tuning it down to 2-3MOA performance.
Okay, maybe 3-4MOA. It is just a hunk of Commie junk, after all....
:)
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